At eleven fifty-five, the Malfoy family, which now included Severus, (as well as Koty's best friends) were gathered at the area that was designated for mass apparition. As the floo could not handle so many trips at once, Lucius had a section of the wards altered for their guests to arrive, and it was large enough that no one would appear on top of one another. They were set to arrive in two minute increments by the dozen and they had to greet the guests.
Koty couldn't imagine how many people were coming, but let his parents invite everyone. He was pretty sure that nearly all of the invitees would have much rather gone to Potter Manor for Jamie's party, rather than his own. Why wouldn't they? Jamie was the Boy-Who-Lived. He was the ultimate hero of the Wizarding world, after all. To be perfectly honest, Koty figured that no more than two dozen people would attend. And that was something that he was completely at peace with.
He just hoped that his parent's feelings wouldn't be hurt by so many guests not showing up.
Within twenty minutes, Koty was struck dumb. There were more than a hundred people, and more were still coming! How was this possible?
"The young man of the hour!" A vaguely familiar voice called out happily.
Koty turned and saw James, one of the men he'd met at the Yule Ball. He was the one that headed the MAP (A/N: Just in case you forgot like I did, it's the Masteries and Apprenticeships Program). "Hi, James!" Koty called back happily, waving.
James' moustache twitched in amusement. "And how are you fairing, Mr. Malfoy?"
"I'm absolutely brilliant!" He replied truthfully. "How are you?"
"Truly splendid," James said, gently patting his shoulder. "Moreso now that you've finally taken my advice! I received a missive from my secretary the moment your exams were marked. I knew you would do well! Now, what apprenticeship have you chosen?"
Koty beamed, recalling their conversation at the ball. "Charms is my first pick, and Runes for my second." He frowned. "I noticed something on my results that might make taking the Arithmancy apprenticeship impossible, even though I had originally decided on it, rather than Runes. There was an 'x' on my grade, something about going to the Ministry, but I haven't a clue what it means."
He hummed in thought, stroking his moustache. "Given that today is Friday, I daresay I should have an answer to that by tea time on Monday. Though, perhaps you would rather accompany me to find out what those stuffed shirts want? With your parents' permission, of course."
"I'll ask!" Koty said eagerly. He really wanted to know what that 'x' was for. "Oh! Before you go, I had hoped you might come, so I had one of the elves sneak up a little bit of that wine you like. Just go into the third tent on the left and ask for Pibble."
"That's a good lad!" James said with a smile. He clapped Koty on the shoulder and went to the aforementioned tent.
Many of the people in attendance, Koty recognized, but there were plenty he didn't. He was introduced to so many people, he thought his hand might shake right off!
By one o'clock the apparition point was re-secured, and there were nearly two hundred guests on the grounds! Two hundred! That was a far cry from the two dozen he'd anticipated.
"Many Happy Returns, my Lord."
Koty yelped, having thought that everyone had finished arriving. "Mr. Liegalos, Charles! I wasn't expecting you." There were six people, all bowed low.
"I thought you said we were invited," An angry woman hissed at Bastien.
"Oh! No, no!" He didn't want to offend these people. "I apologise. I didn't find out about the party until a few hours ago. It was all a surprise. I've met so many people today that I couldn't possibly remember them all. Please, stand."
The woman, angry as she sounded, looked just as dangerous.
But Koty felt nothing malicious from her. "Good afternoon," he said with a smile. "My name is Koty Malfoy. It's a pleasure to meet all of you."
There was an amused snort from one of the people in the back of the small group, that was poorly concealed by an unconvincing cough.
"I apologise, My Lord." A tall, almost frighteningly so, man said. He bowed his head, rather than at the waist. The man had a thick accent, but Koty couldn't place it.
"Is something wrong?" Koty asked curiously.
"All is well, My Lord." The man replied. "I wonder if you realise what your name translates to, in my own tongue?"
Koty flushed red. "You're a Bulgarian, aren't you?"
"I am, my Lord," he confirmed.
Clearing his throat, Koty nodded. "I er, I do know the translation. That's actually why my mother chose it, though I don't think either of us expected to come across anyone who spoke the language. It's my nickname in English as well."
The man, who was obviously an Earth Fae, had brilliant green eyes and skin the colour of dark chocolate. He chuckled warmly.
"Kitten!" Olive's voice rang out clear. She was hurrying along, but not running, with a large ball of fluff on a stick. "There's someone here that's making something called fairy floss. You have to try it!" With that declaration, she held the ball of fluff out in front of his face.
Koty laughed at her hyper-ness. "I'm sorry. Would you all please excuse me?" He asked the group of magical beings. When they agreed and ventured out into the crowd, he faced his friend. "Try it? What is it?"
"I don't know, but it's amazing! Watch!" She ripped a piece off and sat it on her tongue.
His brows rose as it dissolved, leaving a blue tinge behind. Tentatively accepting a bit of the fluff, he mirrored Olive's actions. It was really good. "This is great Olive, but it tastes like pure sugar. How many of these have you had?" She was practically vibrating.
She stopped bouncing from foot to foot to think. "Er... three? Maybe four? Why?"
Oh, Merlin. Koty sighed at his hyper friend. "I think you've had enough of these. Let's see if we can get you some real food. Maybe it'll help... calm you down." When he tried to take the fairy floss, she only struggled for a second.
She huffed. "Okay, okay. There's a booth for gyros. Does that please your Majesty?"
He rolled his eyes. "Yes, you should go get gyros." As she bounced ahead, he called Dobby.
"Happy birthday, Little Master Kitten!" The elf said excitedly, clapping.
"Thank you, Dobby," he said with a calm smile. "Can you do me a favour? I need you to keep Olive away from any of the booths that have sweets for at least an hour."
"Dobby be's doing it!" He cried, bouncing much like Olive herself had been, just moments ago. "Oh! Dobby must be going now then!"
As he moved through the crowds, he saw Dobby pop up in front of Olive and give her little basket of whatever treat she'd snuck, back to the booth attendant. Despite being nearly ten metres away, he saw her shoulders slump, but then she took Dobby's hand and they skipped over to the gyro booth.
Well, she was nothing if not persistent.
Koty spent the next two hours chatting with anyone who stopped him. He hadn't even gotten to go to any of the game booths yet, but he still had plenty of time. While he spoke to an elderly couple he'd never met before, he watched a large group of children, mostly under the age of eight, playing on an enormous jungle gym that was surrounded by what looked like a swimming pool full of large blocks. Before he could react, a squealing child fell head first off the jungle gym and... was perfectly fine. The blocks were squishy. Oh, thank Merlin!
Noticing his split attention, the elderly couple merely said "Happy birthday" once more and began to wander around.
Koty made sure to apologise to them before they went too far.
His attention was captured by his enchanting mother, who escorted him to an area he hadn't seen yet. There was a small podium atop a squat platform that was only a foot high. Bear happily acted as a handhold so he could climb up easier. "Thank you," he whispered, ruffling his doggy's fur.
"Come here, Kitten," his mother said softly. When he finally reached her, she knelt in one fluid motion. "Now, what's going to happen here is simple enough, alright? There are a handful of foreigners that have come to wish you a happy birthday, as I am sure you noticed. What you will do is step up to the podium and thank everyone that came. After that, our foreign visitors will give you their gifts, which you will open here. They made long trips to see you, so it would be impolite to simply send a thank you note, yes?"
That was one of the things he did know about wizarding birthdays, but he was grateful to his mother for explaining regardless. With so many guests, it would be rude to spend all of his time with a few people, so to make things fair, he would express his gratitude in person. The local guests could easily be visited, but the same couldn't be said for everyone in attendance. International portkeys were costly and took a lot of forms and time to get approved. He understood completely.
Narcissa shot sparks into the air to get everyone's attention as Draco and Lucius joined them onstage.
For a moment, Koty had to steel himself. He wasn't used to such crowds, especially when all of their attention is focused on him. Glad he decided to wear his brace, Koty flipped the lip of the brace to snap it into place, and he sighed in relief as the pain reliever went to work.
"Ready?" She asked, fussing over the collar of his robes.
Koty nodded and she cast the Sonorous charm on his throat. "Hello everyone! I only have a few words to bore you with, then you can all get back to the festivities." He paused for a split second before deciding to help his father and Mr. Leigalos. Magical beings are people too. "I can't tell you all how much this means to me. I have never... Many of you may not know this, but this is the first birthday party I've ever had. In fact, this is the first birthday party I've ever been to. So, for all of you to be here today... it's an honour. One that I'm not likely to ever forget." He saw his friends, close to the front of the crowd, nodding their support. "To all of you, I would just like to-"
A few loud cracks echoed through the silent garden.
"WHERE ARE THEY?!"
Koty, along with many of the guests, covered their ears at the shrill sound of Molly Weasley's screeching. More than a few drinks were dropped in the grass.
As one, the crowd faced her. Much to Koty's shock and horror, she was not alone. Mrs. Weasley was being flanked by Sir, Ma'am, Jamie, Ron and another redhead, who could only be the youngest Weasley. Ma'am was cradling a small bundle, wrapped in an eye-gouging gold blanket.
Koty realised that it was the child he'd been so excited to learn about. The child he'd wanted to be a big brother to.
"WHERE ARE MY CHILDREN?!" Mrs. Weasley screamed, her wand out and pointed threateningly toward the crowd.
At least fifty wands now pointed directly at the hysterical woman, who was now charging through throngs of people to find her twin sons.
"Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy," Sir called out loudly, commanding attention. "You are hereby under arrest for the kidnapping of Fredrick Weasley and George Weasley."
The crowd lost it, some shouting, some running, more though, were too stunned to do anything but gape. Koty was one such person. He saw two flashes of red blurring past.
"We weren't kidnapped!" The twins yelled. "We were invited!"
"OH, MY BABIES!" Mrs. Weasley wailed, covering much of what they said. She pulled them close, and Koty could see that she was furiously whispering at them. He also noticed that even as they tried to speak, no sound came out.
Sir was fast approaching the podium and Koty wrapped himself around his parents in a panic. While they tried to get out of his grip, never breaking eye contact with Auror Potter, Koty just held on tighter.
He screamed in pain as strong hands grabbed his wings at the base and pulled.
"Let go, you little shit!" Sir snarled, yanking again, this time harder.
But Koty held tighter still.
"Kid's got a hell of a grip," someone said, sounding strained.
It wasn't until he heard a horrid crack that he finally lost his grip on his parents, and he was flung backwards off the platform.
"What the fuck, Potter?!" One of the Aurors shouted.
Koty sobbed in pain as several pairs of feet surrounded him. His tears, and the legs of the people around him, blocked his view, but he heard a loud growl and he could smell smoke. There was a pained yelp and a thud. People were talking to him, but Koty understood none of it.
Then... everything was silent.
"You realise I have to arrest you for attacking an Auror?"
"I do," an all-too familiar silken voice said. "And I will come quietly."
"What, really?"
"Of course, as I will be filing charges as well." Severus' dragonhide boots came into Koty's line of sight.
"NO!" Koty screamed. He couldn't have them all taken away! What would he and Draco do? His parents and his mate were being led away in handcuffs! He couldn't let this happen! He needed help. Help to stand up. Help to fight if need be. He just needed help.
As he pulled on someone's arm, Penny's he absently noted, to stand, he realised that nearly half of the guests that surrounded him were kneeling, with their wands out. Each of the kneeling people held out their wands, as if in offering.
Everyone was silent, including the Aurors. They were all staring at him.
"George Weasley and Frederick Weasley were not kidnapped!" He shouted at them all. "They were invited, exactly the same as every other guest! Ask them yourselves!"
The Aurors ignored him and continued hauling his family away.
"Someone stop them!" Koty screamed, and to his astonishment, all of the people who had been kneeling were now forming a protective ring around the Aurors, all pointing their wands with cold fury in their eyes.
Bastien Leigalos stepped forward, moving toward Mrs. Weasley. "I believe," he began menacingly. "That your sons have something to say."
"GET AWAY FROM US, YOU FILTHY ANIMALS!"
Struggling against their mother and siblings, the twins were eventually able to wrench themselves free.
"If anyone's kidnapping anyone, it's you!" Fred snarled, rubbing his quickly bruising arm. "We were in-"
Fred's mouth was moving, but he was once again silenced.
"We want to be here, you hateful harpy!" George screamed, mirroring his twin's actions.
"Now you have no cause to be here." Koty said in a deadly calm tone. He realised that the Sonorous was still active. "Unless we decide to press our own charges on many of you. The Weasley matriarch for falsifying a report. The Aurors for unnecessary force, and assault in some cases. And him," Koty said, pointing at James Potter Sr. His voice faltered somewhat. "For assaulting a minor."
Sir burst out laughing, sounding slightly mad. "Even if that were true, Darling Snivellus gets to come along and play in a cell. Maybe you'll get lucky and be paired with Greyback! I remember how much you like werewolves."
The already pale Severus turned ghost-white, but he never said a word.
Koty could see the fear in his eyes, and it broke his heart. But what could he do? He hadn't seen why Severus was being arrested in the first place. The adrenaline was wearing off and he was beginning to feel ill at the pain in his wings. At least his parents were safe, but what about Sev?
Ow ow ow. When had he hit his head? He felt around for the source, only to hiss in pain and find a small amount of blood on his fingers.
"And because of this," Mr. Leigalos said harshly, holding Koty's blood-stained fingers. "You cannot legally take the Potion's Master into custody. He was well within his legal rights to defend Mr. Malfoy from attack. Release him, or face the consequences of your baseless actions."
"And what the hell are you going to do about it, you overgrown House-Elf?" Sir snorted and continued dragging Severus back over to the apparition point.
The realisation of exactly what Sir said settled over the crowd like a lead blanket. They were horrified.
But Mr. Leigalos just smirked. "A House-Elf, you say?" His grin broadened, bordering on feral, as he winked to Koty. "Lord Malfoy, would you please call the elf most devoted to your youngest?"
Despite his clear confusion, Lucius summoned Dobby.
"Yes, Master Lordy Malfoy? What can Dobby be's doing for yous?"
Mr. Leigalos knelt to Dobby's level. "What would you do, Dobby, if I informed you that this man," he pointed harshly at Sir. "Has deliberately caused your charge physical harm?"
Dobby's tennis ball sized eyes widened, then he looked at Koty. The shock in his expression quickly dissolved into one of terrifying anger. He slowly turned to face Sir. "Bad man hurt Little Master?"
"He did," Mr. Leigalos said simply.
No more needed to be said. A dozen switches appeared, surrounding Sir. "Bad man will not hurt Little Master!" He snapped his fingers once more, and all of the switches began whipping the Auror.
Sir's arms flailed around, dropping Sev's bound wrists in the process, as he tried in vain to fight off the whip-like branches.
Slightly surprised that he had been spared from the vicious switches, Severus remained in place, his wrists still bound by the cuffs.
"What is the meaning of this?"
Everyone turned to face an irate looking woman with a monocle.
"Madam Bones!" Koty shouted, having forgotten she was one of the many in attendance. Where was she before now? "Please, help! They're lying! They can't take him away!"
Realising their boss was present, the Aurors pocketed their wands. She would have this sorted out in no time.
Her brow knit upon her inspection of the little boy in front of her. His left wing was hanging awkwardly and there was blood on his hand. In fact, the Lord and Lady of the house seemed to be nursing various minor injuries as well. Snape was standing perfectly still, wearing Auror issued suppressor cuffs. Much too tightly, if the unnatural colour of his hands was anything to go by. "Why is this man being arrested?"
"He hit an Auror," Sir said smugly, showing off the blooming form of what was sure to be a spectacular black eye within the hour. Somehow he had gotten rid of the multitude of switches, but many were satisfied to note that he was covered in angry, thin lines in a startling shade of red.
"Surely not," Madam Bones said, aghast. Other than the trial proving his innocence for spying on the Death Eaters, Severus Snape had never been in any kind of legal trouble.
Koty was struggling to stay upright, as his broken wing left him quite dizzy. He leaned heavily on Amelia, wondering where Bear was. He looked all around, and was terrified when he finally found his doggy.
Bear was lying on the half-destroyed stage, bound in thick ropes and bleeding heavily.
Tears filling his vision, Koty hurried to his familiar's side and began pulling at the bindings. He hissed in pain as he pulled on... those weren't plain ropes. Upon inspecting his stinging hands, he realised that his fingers were shredded. His breath hitched as he cried. "It'll be okay, Cuddles. Just hold still, okay?"
Groping around, he found a charred bit of wood. Closing his eyes, the little Vílaupír focused on getting a sharp edge and carefully wedged the wood-turned-metal inside the bindings. He slowly sawed at the ropes, doing his best to ignore the way they slid through his flesh. It had to be hurting his doggy much worse, as Koty was only injuring his fingers, while Cuddles was bound in several places.
When the ropes fell away from his muzzle, the wyhound licked his human's face, careful to move as little as possible.
Sniffling, Koty moved onto the ropes that pinned his doggy's legs to his torso.
"Kitten, stop!" Hands pulled him back.
Koty shook them off. "I... I'm fine. The ropes..." Talking and sniffling at the same time made it difficult to get his words out.
"Look at me!"
Startled, he looked up.
Lucius began cautiously untangling his son's hands from the bindings. When they were free, he cast a low-powered cutting hex at the ropes. It took several tries to get the ropes loose, but he didn't want to risk hurting his son's familiar anymore than he already was. "Cissa, would you locate Mr. Newt Graves? He said he was going to be late, but I am unaware if he has arrived as of yet. Severus, help me."
Koty was shocked at that. Hadn't Sev been arrested? But no, he was there, rubbing his hands and stretching his fingers out. "Daddy, who attacked him?" He asked, glancing at his doggy.
"Auror Potter," Lucius said, confirming Koty's suspicion. "Just after he threw you, Bear spit fire at him. Little bugger burned up your stage."
"Oh! Oh dear," a startled voice said softly. "Yes, Lady Malfoy, I see the problem. I may not be a usual Healer, but I do have a great amount of practice with wings."
Mr. Newt knelt between Koty and Bear, trying to decide who to help first.
"Can you fix him, Mr. Newt?" Koty asked, his big blue eyes shining with hopeful tears. "There was something wrong with the ropes. That's why he's all cut up."
"So I see," he replied, wincing at the state of Koty's hands. "You tried to take them off yourself, didn't you?"
"Sev can fix me up. I'm more worried about Cuddles."
Within half an hour, Koty's hands were bound in gauze, the skin feeling tight and sensitive. He flexed his fingers and winced at the strange feeling. The cut on his head had been small, and was promptly healed. He cried out when his wing snapped itself back into place and was immobilised against his back with a leather harness.
His doggy was finally in better spirits as well, having been healed of all his cuts.
"Alright, Bear," Mr. Newt began, but was startled when the wyhound growled. It wasn't threatening, but he was clearly upset about something.
Severus snorted softly. "I have yet to understand the reasoning, but he prefers to be called Cuddles, of all things, when Koty is in need of comfort. I have noticed it sporadically throughout the school year."
"Ah," he said with a nod. "Of course. Now then, Cuddles, that paste has to dry, alright? No playing in the lake until at least tomorrow. You can do that, yes?"
"The same goes for you, little imp," Severus said, holding up Koty's thickly gauzed hands. "I will change the wraps before you go to bed, but keep them dry."
"M'kay," Koty replied with a yawn, leaning into the Potion's Master.
Pulling back slightly, Severus checked his temperature with a quizzical expression on his face. He even lifted Koty's brows and stared into his eyes. "You lost too much blood, Kitten. Let's go into one of the tents and get you fed." Without waiting for a response, he scooped the little Vílaupír up and carted him off to the nearest tent.
A few short minutes later, Draco walked into the tent. Before Koty could back off of Severus' wrist, Draco held up his hand. "It's alright, Koty. I know I'm interrupting, but I just wanted to say that I'm starting to understand what you were dealing with, living with those bastards."
"Language, Dragon." Severus warned.
"English, Uncle Sev." Draco snapped. He huffed and took a seat, rubbing his hands over his face. "What happened today... well, it was horrible. And they have the nerve to call us bad people!"
Having had his fill, Koty released Sev's arm. "What happened after Madam Bones showed up? I was looking after Cuddles and missed it."
Draco smirked. "James Potter Senior was relieved of his job and charged with assaulting a minor, trespassing, assaulting a familiar, plain old assault and inciting panic. Mrs. Weasley has to appear at the Ministry for falsifying a claim, disturbing the peace and trespassing. The other aurors are all being suspended pending investigation, for excessive force, assault and inciting panic. Oh, you missed it!"
Koty blinked. Hadn't he just said that?
"Some man I didn't recognise hit that Potter bastard so hard that three of his teeth fell out. When Madam Bones arrested him, he just said that it was worth it and whistled as she escorted him out! Can you believe it? He was whistling!" Draco's eyes sparkled with mirth.
"Who on Earth would have done that?" Koty wondered aloud.
Before anyone could reply, the tent flap lifted and a man entered, seemingly not noticing them. He was tall and slender, with sandy brown hair and faint scars all over his face and hands. He was holding hands with a small child of about seven years old. The child with him was clearly upset, with red, puffy eyes and sniffling into the older man's robes.
Without noticing the occupants in the tent, the man knelt down in front of the child. "Don't you worry, Cub. Daddy will be back in no time. You'll see."
The child wiped their nose and nodded, but hiccoughed. Her. The child was a little girl.
"Still upset?" The man asked sympathetically.
Trying to appear brave, the small child shook her head. "No, papa. I'm brave." A few tears spilled free, despite the small lie declaring otherwise.
"Oh, well, there's nothing to do for it, I'm afraid..." the man let his words trail off, slipping his hand subtly into his pocket. "Except this, perhaps?"
The tears stopped and a hiccough-y giggle escaped the child's lips. "Papa, chocolate can't be the answer to everything!"
"No?" The man asked, teasing. "Ah, well, then this must be for me."
The little girl rolled her eyes and sighed heavily, leaning against his tall frame. "Is Daddy gonna be okay?"
All joking aside, the man stowed the chocolate bar in his pocket, and wrapped her in a hug. "Daddy will be just fine, sweetheart. Now, since everything is settling down, why don't we go see if we can find your new cousin?"
At that moment, Severus cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable.
Both looked toward the sound, eyes wide.
"My apologies," the man said. "We were just getting away from the...'' his eyes locked on Koty's wings. "Crowd."
"Of course," Severus said stiffly. "We will-"
"Severus?" The man asked, in confused recognition. "The years have been kind to you."
"I am afraid I don't..." Severus' brow knit, and anger overtook his features. "Lupin."